My new "naturalistic" tank!

[xStatic]

So I just finished putting the final touches on my 35 gallon tank that will soon be housing my new baby pastel ball python! I used cypress mulch as bedding, with sphagnum moss scattered all throughout the tank, some vines from the dollar store, a big corner water dish, some small hides made of blue plastic bowls from the dollar store (I covered these with moss to hide the plastic though), and a large plastic half log hide filled up with bedding and sphagnum moss to make it a snug fit, even for a smaller snake.

The tank isn't as large as I would like, and I will most likely upgrade to a 50 gallon in the future, but I think it will work out fine for now, and I only paid like $12 for the tank at goodwill.

The lid didn't really fit well on the style of tank I have, so I got some bungee cords and now it's on there TIGHT lol!

What do you guys think?!!

(excuse the mess in the back, I'm going through all the stuff stored in my closet, lol)










And here's the little girl I will be picking up in a couple days!!!

[BFT12890]

What size is the snake?

What heating element do you use?

I only see one thermostat, do you have a second to monitor the hot and cold side?

Did you sanitize everything before putting it in?

While aesthetically it is appealing, its very cluttered which,
1. You have a lot more to clean when cleaning the tank
2. Will make it hard for the snake to navigate around.

youll find in regards to balls, simple is better. 2 hides and water dish in the center. (and also appropriate heat and gauges)

the lid scares me, I would find a better fitting one quickly until then move the bungee cords farther to the outside (youd be surprised what snakes can lift up and break out of) also since you are using a glass tank, id find a way to cover 3 sides making it darker. balls don't like to be show snakes and will be inconsistent with eating if they are stressed because they feel highly visable.

Again, very nice looking setup but I wouldn't call it ideal for a ball.

Ideally, if you plan on getting a lot of snakes, tubs are a good recommendation, if you plan on only having a few (a hard urge to control) PVC cages (animal plastics, boaphile etc) are good choices.

[Raven01]

The clutter is good. The more clutter the more likely you might actually see your snake out and about feeling safe and comfortable.
Honestly, Balls kind of suck as display animals. They make up for that with their mellow(usually) dispositions and nice compact size. Not to mention the huge variation in colour and pattern.
I would consider offering 2 hides and, opt for ones that have only one opening and will be almost snug for your snake.

[xStatic]

I do have two hides that have only one opening each... they are blue plastic bowls with a small opening cut into them. I smoothed the plastic with a flame.

It's cluttered because a 150 gram baby is going into this fairly large 35 gallon tank. The yellow thing you can see in the tank is a thermometer, not a themostat (those are two very different things), and there is a under tank heater on the warm side which is monitored with a thermostat. I monitor the ambient temperature in the entire room so there is no need for me to place an additional thermometer at the cool end, because it would only tell me what I already know.

The largish half log hide is just in there because I had it on hand and because it added more overhead cover for a baby snake.

Did I sanitize everything? Well I hope you understand I didn't take the bedding from outside or anything lol. Yes the driftwood is something I am constantly collecting and I have it in all of my snake cages. I always bake the wood for several hours. The plastic plants were washed in hot soapy water in my sink. The moss is manufactured by Zoo Med. It comes pre-packaged. I soaked it in hot water, rung it out, and added it to the cage. I also always wash all of my cage furniture. I don't see why you would be asking me such a question?

The lid is EXTREMELY secure. When I received it I realized it was maybe a centimeter or less too small in both directions. Zoo med lids easily bend outwards a bit though. With traditional cage slips I just didn't get the tight fit I wanted, so I got the bungee cords. I feel like you don't understand how strong a pair of bungee cords are. Additionally, a ton of people here on BP.net have described how they use bungee cords to secure the lids on Sterilite containers, which they use to house large adult ball pythons. It's a common way to keep lids on very tightly (MANY snake keepers use them), and it'c cheeper and more reliable than small flimsy tank clips.

I do not have the desire, or the extra room, to buy a snake rack at this time. Most of my snakes are small and live in 20 gallon or small tanks in my bedroom. They aren't really "display snakes" but I do like having glass tanks so I can easily look inside and see what they are up to.

I promise you there is nothing wrong with this tank and the ball python will be very happy in it. I'm actually fairly offended that someone decided to criticize me thinking I don't know whats best. I've kept MANY species of reptiles and amphibians, and know very well how to care for a great deal of exotic species. I know a tong of people keep their ball pythons in 2ftx2ft cages lined with a single sheet of paper and nothing more than a ceramic dog bowl or maybe a cardboard hide, but that's not how I like to keep my snakes.

Once the snake gets bigger the smaller hides (blue bowls covered in moss) will obviously be removed, freeing up a lot of open space. And once the snake gets to be really big, I will obviously need to upgrade her to a larger tank size.

[anatess]

Great looking viv! That pastel looks sweet too.

What's the floor dimensions on that tank? You may not need to get a bigger one. My adult female pastel is in a 30 gallon long tank with floor dimensions of 38"x18". The height of the tank is not critical. I had her in a 55 gallon Exo-Terra display case and she was so stressed out even with all the vines and multiple hides. She never did settle well and it was so much trouble maintaining the temps and humidity so I moved her to the 30 and she settled down. I got her as an adult. I didn't try my other ones on the bigger tank, though, just because of my troubles with my first bp so I'm not sure if they would take to it better.

The only thing I'd like to suggest is a tank background. It makes everything look more "pulled together" like the paint and curtains in your room, know what I mean? Check out my avatar. That's Zoo-med naturalistic-looking cork tiles on the background. Besides aesthetics, it is also great at insulating the tank and providing added security.

[BFT12890]

I promise you there is nothing wrong with this tank and the ball python will be very happy in it. I'm actually fairly offended that someone decided to criticize me thinking I don't know whats best. I've kept MANY species of reptiles and amphibians, and know very well how to care for a great deal of exotic species. I know a tong of people keep their ball pythons in 2ftx2ft cages lined with a single sheet of paper and nothing more than a ceramic dog bowl or maybe a cardboard hide, but that's not how I like to keep my snakes.

The reason I asked as many questions as I did was because,

A. You posted a picture of a tank you are going to put an animal in and I noticed some things that I thought could be setup better (constructive criticism)
B. You mentioned how you got the tank for $12 which was alarming because a lot of individuals get stuff cheap and decide they have to fill it ASAP without much regard to setting it up properly (fitment of the lid being another thing, there have been plenty of "help me catch my snake" threads because people don't like using the proper stuff, because they get other stuff cheap)
C. The OP was fairly blank in regards to talking about the essentials that you can assume others would ask about (heating etc)
D. You asked "What do you guys think?" (clearly looking for input)

I wasn't trying to be offensive and im sorry if you took it that way, after lurking and posting here for a few years Ive made my fair share of mistakes and learned plenty from the other posters and like to try to pass along what ive been taught to help owners and animals alike. (im still learning/making mistakes since I recently entered the boa realm)

Again, everything looks nice but when you are dealing with reptile enthusiasts (especially ones that already have a bad rep due to a lot of negligent owners) your going to get a lot of questions ensuring everything is in proper order.

Congrats on the new girl. She's a cute little thing. Happy herping.

[xStatic]

Great looking viv! That pastel looks sweet too.

What's the floor dimensions on that tank? You may not need to get a bigger one. My adult female pastel is in a 30 gallon long tank with floor dimensions of 38"x18". The height of the tank is not critical. I had her in a 55 gallon Exo-Terra display case and she was so stressed out even with all the vines and multiple hides. She never did settle well and it was so much trouble maintaining the temps and humidity so I moved her to the 30 and she settled down. I got her as an adult. I didn't try my other ones on the bigger tank, though, just because of my troubles with my first bp so I'm not sure if they would take to it better.

The only thing I'd like to suggest is a tank background. It makes everything look more "pulled together" like the paint and curtains in your room, know what I mean? Check out my avatar. That's Zoo-med naturalistic-looking cork tiles on the background. Besides aesthetics, it is also great at insulating the tank and providing added security.

The tank isn't quite as large as yours. The dimensions are 30inches x 13inches I believe. It's 21 inches or so high, but I know that's not really important. I'll probably just wait until one of the local pet stores has a sale on tanks and I'll pick up a 40 gallon breeder or something. Sometimes people put 50 gallons on craigslist too for pretty cheep, so that could be an option.

Thanks for the recommendation! The background does really make the whole setup come together. I'll probably pick one up this week

I'm planning on following a tutorial that I found on this site for covering screen lids with foil and duct tape. It's suppose to help a lot with humidity and such.

[xStatic]

I followed the sticky on this site for covering my screen lid with foil to help keep humidity and heat in the tank better. It worked perfectly and doesn't look too bad. I think it should help

[KMG]

I think it looks fine. I like the natural look and try to give all my snakes that option but find many to be to deductive. My ball though has never been. She is extremely easy on the plants I have (the ones in the substrate are live) and crawls around just fine.

The only suggestion I would make is adding a cover to the exterior of the back wall. This will make the half log seem like it only has one door and give a bit of over all security.

This is a older pic but gives you an idea of how cluttered I keep my ball. I need to take new pics b/c the plants are bigger and the hides are different now. But the idea is the same. My ball was raised in this 40 gallon her whole life and has thrived. She is a great eaterand gives me no issues.

In response to one comment above BFT, you should make sure your wording is correct when trying to help out. I'm prey sure you meant thermometer but write thermostat. New hobbyist could get confused on simple mistakes like that.



My gtp is one that just doesn't like having nice things. He would dig up the plants every night.

[Physician&Snakes]

I promise you there is nothing wrong with this tank and the ball python will be very happy in it. I'm actually fairly offended that someone decided to criticize me thinking I don't know whats best. I've kept MANY species of reptiles and amphibians, and know very well how to care for a great deal of exotic species. I know a tong of people keep their ball pythons in 2ftx2ft cages lined with a single sheet of paper and nothing more than a ceramic dog bowl or maybe a cardboard hide, but that's not how I like to keep my snakes.

Once the snake gets bigger the smaller hides (blue bowls covered in moss) will obviously be removed, freeing up a lot of open space. And once the snake gets to be really big, I will obviously need to upgrade her to a larger tank size.

Welcome to the online world were everyone is 6'5" and 250lb. I have been working in exotics for nine years now, from prairie dogs to tarantulas to caimans and every non-venomous snake you can find in the hobby pretty much, I have also gathered some decent though minor medical training. I still get a bit hot under the collar when I get "corrected" by someone who's worked with maybe three species for 2-4 years, but in all honesty it comes with the territory . You should not have to clean that cage too often as you can easily make it bioactive by adding some vermiculite and organic potting soil, vermiculite at the bottom to serve as a drainage layer, after that you are mainly spot cleaning. When I clean my fake plants I just dip them in some soapy water and rinse thoroughly in the shower. I really like the look of it; however I would add a cool background and maybe use some more of that height, maybe a taller plant or waterfall.